The Twenty-first Republic - All back but for how long? Why is Big Gav still in post?

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

You are most welcome to this school staff support thread to get us through stressful times. It is meant for school staff only – a sort of room of requirement. Baiters, haters, goaders and bashers can jog on somewhere else.

If you are NOT staff and just have a general education query please start your own thread.

You can play here if you are a member of one the following groups-

-ABBA - anti bashers and baiting association
-SWAB - school workers against bashers
-SWOT - school workers opposing teacherbashers
-STARS - schoolworkers together against ranting + slurs

Do not give ‘The Every twat for Themselves mob’ the staffroom password as a number of them are operating in an alternative reality.

No DfE muppets allowed

Other requirements for staff room entry include the ability to find the staff room, the ability to find a clean mug in the staff room, knowledge of the photocopier codes, and the ability to sniff out where the toffee vodka is hidden.

If you are fed up with cakes and biscuits there is now a cheeseboard on offer

If you come with a stick to goad us then that is not allowed in the staffroom, especially if you have not used the hand gel. Close the door quietly on your way out and put your mask on.

2 kids from my form had to be sent home today feeling sick. So they won't be tested as sickness isn't one of the 3 main symptoms, but we know it's a big symptom in children.

Dd2's class has at least one child who has developed symptoms and is trying to get a test. They'll update us once the results are known apparently, but in the meantime we have to be extra vigilant in checking our kids for symptoms.

This is going to be such a difficult term!!! We've got Trans training going on this week and next as lunch and after school sessions. We've told parents that if a bubble has to close then work will be set via Teams, and some live lessons will happen. There's nothing about it the teachers are ill as well as kids from the bubble!! I certainly won't be teaching online if I am ill.

That's Teams training rather than Trans training. That would be something very different I think.

Social gatherings of more than six banned in England!

Not schools, though, natch. Exempt.

@MsAwesomeDragon that's just what I was thinking!

@MrsHamlet student librarians are a group apart.... We're planning a click and collect service, hopefully getting them to browse our online catalogue first , plus my boss found some fab secondhand metal trolleys on eBay in the summer and she's using those to take books out to her Y7 and 8 classes, we're a mobile library! But mainly cos powers that be are still insisting on Accelerated Reader.....

(People from all over school are already begging us to borrow our brightly coloured chariots!)

Gosh I imagine a lot of schools are going to run out of their allocated ten kits very quickly this week - for people who "couldn't otherwise access a test" (= everyone at present). I know they can order more but I wonder if there's any available at the moment....!

Just place marking on the new thread. Sorry. I never do that. So beyond even trying to contribute an actual comment tonight, though.

Exhausted after my first 2 days in my new school but I love it.
Nothing works, I can't access anything, new systems to learn. Not to mention very strange SOW and no resources.
But it's so nice to have no morning briefings and everyone on a level playing field as we all trek to new classrooms to teach our subject in a random area.
I love my timetable and have a great feeling about it all.
And my kids seem to have settled into their schools and after school clubs well (Y2, Reception and nursery). We have coped with drop offs and staggered starts.
So far so good.

So where does that leave posters on other thread organising a trampoline party..

Glad your dd is feeling a bit better Madeline . Welcome clarity .

How does afterschool club fit with regs?
What about ballet lessons? Gymnastics? Not team games.
My child going to a party on Sunday - all in her class bubble.

Think we just have to await new guidance in the morning...

Weren’t things like ballet lessons already 6 max? The rules haven’t changed that much at all. It was only up to 30 from two households.

Just realised thats no rainbows as its including outside too

School bubbles exempt so after school clubs might be ok.

I am one of those awful people who didn't know what the rules were before. No point when all my/our risk was going to be linked to school.

Need a safe place to screeeeeeeeam....

Cases in the 2 closest secondaries to the one dh teaches in. Awaiting news of test results for children in his.

Meanwhile at my school I am getting eye rolls from staff when I try to keep my distance. They seem to think I am silly to be worried. They are almost all 20s and 30s. I am not and dh is over 60. Why have a bloody RA if you're not going to follow it.

I run outdoor preschool sessions when I'm not teaching in school. I'm booked up for the rest of the half-term. I'll be gutted if I have to cancel!

Bloody typical of the government to make a big announcement, then say "We'll let you know the full list of exemptions at a later date". Why not just at the same fucking time?!

"Close contact within homes remains the most common risk of transmission identified by contact tracers"

This means my pil can now not see our family together at all as we alone number 6. We will have to visit them in split groups.

MIL has only just started to go back to the shops after shielding ended. Fil has yet to go as they're still being cautious due to his health. Seeing family is what helps keep them sane.

I am still baffled as to why they think transmission is mainly within the home. I wonder where the spread would be greater if they only counted patient zero in every household, ignoring the obvious risk of transmission to other people you live with.

I think I shall be a hermit. At least it means currently we shall still be able to use our staff room as our dept is more than 6. Apparently we are the only dept who is following the 'face coverings in staff room' rule though. After this announcement I think I am grateful for that even if it has been hard going since I've been in there a lot more than usual while waiting for all students to return.

@Mistressiggi - thanks for the tip about clear vinyl poly pockets.

Morning everyone.

First day of teaching today (thankfully only 3 lessons) and I had a terrible night's sleep worrying. Our class lists were still changing yesterday so I feel as if I've wasted so much time putting seating plans and mark books together for pupils I'm not actually teaching . It's had a knock on effect on the class notebooks in Teams so completely confusing. I still have no clue whom I'm teaching at KS5 but not seeing them for a few days so I'm sure I'll know who they are before they turn up in my classroom!

Little things keep cropping up, such as remembering to get everyone to wipe their desks down before the end of class, where the heck are the exercise books. Got 3 dc starting today as well and my head has been spinning with the amount of email I've received over the past week as a parent and a teacher.

Wanted to rage or cry yesterday. Officially an unpaid day but spent all of it at my computer and ended up not making banana bread for the dc's snack today or the stew I was planning for tonight's dinner.

5 new local jobs for Maths teachers popped up on my TES alerts overnight.

I'm sure it'll be better once I get back into the classroom. I need to give up on my perfectionist tendencies for the time being though!

My DS has a very ordinary cold and cough so it's going to be a couple of days home for us. I feel ridiculous, esp as I'm going to have to get leave for the end of this half term as some schools in Wales have an extra week off (I know they had an extra week in summer but that was one day only and no good to us.) It's all a bloody nightmare.

What is this desk wiping of which you speak?! We have no wipes!

Our school gets cleaned once a day at 3.30 and the desks are wiped with a dirty cloth. The door handles and light switches are not being done and the bins are filthy...

Jeez, Piggy. Your school sounds like it's an absolute pig sty!

Yes, we have to clean the classroom in between every lesson. One cleaner on site going round cleaning light switches, door handles, bannisters and loos all day.

(I also clean my own door handle an extra ten or more times a day.)

We also at my place have library lessons where kids roam around the library pawing books! And the staggered start times just mean they all come in, get off their buses and gather in groups.

My school. FML.

We have to get the kids to wipe down the desks before they leave.
That happened to me too dreaming . Lots of use of the back button revealed the original plan though.